/ 

PAEASITES 

OF THE 

GYPSY AND BROWN-TAIL MOTHS 



INTRODUCED INTO 



MASSACHUSETTS. Sl--i^ 4^^.-1^, 



<fif ^ "'( 



WREUE THEY CO:VIE FROM. 

WHAT THEY ARE DOING. 

A GENERAL SURVEY OF THE WORK. 



By W. F. FISKE, 

Agent and Expert, Bureau of Entomology, U. S. Department of Agriculture. 

UNDER THE DIRECTION OF 

F. W. RANE, State Forester. 



BOSTON: 

WRIGHT & POTTER PRINTING CO., STATE PRINTERS, 

IS Post Office Square. 

1910. 









Approved by 
The State Board of Publication. 



^ 

^ 



CONTENTS. 



Introductory, ..... 

Acknowledgments, .... 
Nature of insect parasitism, 
Natural control of the gypsy moth, . 
Parasite introduction in theory and practice. 
Sequence of parasites, .... 
Parasites of the gypsy moth in Japan, 
Parasites of the gypsy moth in Europe, 
Parasites of the gypsy moth in America, . 
Parasites of the egg, 

Anastatus bifasciatus, 
Schedius kuvanae, 
Parasites of the caterpillar, 
Gli/ptapaiiteles fulvipes, 
Blepharipa scutcllata, 
Compsilura concinnata, 
Tachina larvarum and Tricholi/ga yrandis, 
Zygobothria gilva and Carcelia gtmva, 
Parasites of the pupa, 

Theronia sp., .... 
Chalcis flavipes, 
Monodontomerus aereus, 
Progress of the parasites in Massachusetts, 
When will the parasites become effective? 

The work in 1910, 

Parasites of the brown-tail moth. 



9 
10 
13 
15 
IS 
20 
23 
23 
25 
28 
28 
33 
36 
38 
39 
40 
40 
41 
43 
46 
50 
52 
53 



INTRODUCTORY. 



This bulletin is published by the State Forester in order that 
any of our citizens interested may have a definite and compre- 
hensive knowledge of the work that the State of Massachusetts 
is doing in importing parasites and predatory enemies of the 
gypsy and brown-tail moths. 

I am sure this bulletin will meet a cordial reception by many 
of our people, as it explains the various points often so difficult 
to propound in the short time at one's command. 

The time has come when we should have a better practical 
working knowledge of the future care of our trees. We must 
look upon these moth depredations and their ultimate control 
in a rational manner. When forest fires are burning, we do 
not hesitate to put them out, realizing their great destructiveness 
if allowed to run at will. The enormous damage that these 
moths have done in eastern Massachusetts is appreciated only 
by those who have lived in the infested districts. We propose 
to have many strings to our bow in fighting these moths. The 
work of introducing parasites, thought by scientists to be of 
great promise, was begun in 1905 and has been vigorously pur- 
sued ever since. It has not been by any means an easy matter 
to secure them in sufficient quantities, and get them established 
in this country in large enough numbers, to secure the desired 
results. Each year, however, has improved on the past, until 
at present very effective work is in progress. More material 
was secured last year than during the whole time previously, 
and the coming year is even more promising. The gypsy moth 
itself was here a number of years before it became sufficiently 
abundant to be considered a pest. If it took the gypsy moth 
many years to get established, with all favorable conditions ap- 
parently at its bidding, we must not get over-impatient awaiting 
the results which are hoped for in the introduction of its natural 
enemies. This work, as this bulletin explains, is in better con- 



6 INTRODUCTORY. • 

dition and more promising from actual results at the present 
time than ever. 

The State Forester cannot refrain from saying also that what 
Massachusetts is doing in this work is indirectly as important 
to the nation generally ; for what is here accomplished will ulti- 
mately result in equal value throughout 'New England and 
finally elsewhere. 

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS. 

The work of writing and compiling the data in this bulletin 
was done by Mr. W. F. Fiske, agent and expert, Bureau of 
Entomology, United States Department of Agriculture, in 
charge of directing the technical work of introducing the para- 
sites and predatory enemies of the gypsy moth and the brown- 
tail moth into Massachusetts. The headquarters for this work 
are at the State laboratory at Melrose Highlands. 

When it was determined by the State Forester that the in- 
formation contained in this bulletin would be appreciated by our 
people, a conference with Dr. L. O. Howard, the United States 
Government Entcmiologist, who has been our chief adviser in 
expending the State's money for this work, resulted in his dele- 
gating Mr. Fiske to the task. Mr. Fiske's manuscript was ex- 
amined and approved by Dr. Howard. 

We are therefore under obligations to both of the above-named 
gentlemen for their hearty co-operative efforts in our behalf. 

F. W. RANE, 

State Forester. 
6 Beacon Street, Boston, Mass., March 15, 1910. 



PLATE I. 







^ iim' 



" ^n\\ I 








Grounds of the Gypsy Moth Laboratory, showing Temporary Structures used in 
rearing Parasites of the Gypsy Moth and Brown-tail Moth. 




Interior of One of these Structures, showing Trays for feeding Caterpillars. 



PARASITES OF THE GYPSY AND BROWN- 
TAIL MOTHS. 



NATURE OF INSECT PARASITISM. 

It is probable that the total inimber of different species of 
insects which are native to Massachusetts is not far short of 10,- 
000, if Indeed it does not exceed this number. A large propor- 
tion of these are plant feeders, some of them sucking the sap, 
others eating the foliage, and others still boring in the roots, 
seeds or stems. A great many feed upon dead vegetable matter, 
or upon the lower plants, such as mushrooms and other fungi. 

Several thousand, possibly half of the total, feed upon animals 
or upon dead animal matter, and by far the larger part of these 
prey upon other insects, — principally, but by no means exclu- 
sively, upon those which are plant feeders. It is largely through 
this continuous warfare that the plant-feeding insects are held in 
check, and prevented from increasing to such numbers as to be- 
come a menace to vegetable life in general. 

The insects which subsist upon other insects may roughly 
be divided into two classes, according to the methods of their 
attack. The predatory, like the other predatory animals, wander 
about, attacking and devouring the weaker species or individ- 
uals. For the most part they are very catholic in their tastes, 
and will attack almost any other insect which they may chance 
to encounter in their favored haunts. The parasitic, on the con- 
trary, are in most instances very closely restricted in the choice 
of their prey, and have a very different method of attack. 

Instead of falling upon and devouring a weaker insect, they 
frequently attack and destroy those which are much larger and 
stronger in every way than themselves. This is accomplished by 
the deposition of an egg, or in some instances a living maggot, 
within or upon the body of the selected victim, or upon its food, 
or in some other situation. The young larva, hatching from the 



8 IMPORTED PARASITES. 

egg (or deposited by the female parasite, for in quite a large 
number of them the eggs hatch within the body of the parent), 
ultimately becomes established within or upon the body of the 
other insect, which serves as host ; and, although there is consid- 
erable variation in the ways by which this is accomplished, the 
end is the same. 

Having become established, the young larva proceeds to feed 
upon the less vital portions of its victim, usually upon the fatty 
tissues, until it is nearly or quite full grown; then, from its 
point of vantage inside the body of its host, it kills it, devours 
all or such portions of its body as it desires, and later trans- 
forms to a pupa, which in turn produces an adult similar to 
that which made the original attack. 

There is hardly a plant or shrub or tree which is not attacked 
in some portion by one or more species of plant-feeding insects. 
Some trees, like the oak and pine, support a very great variety, 
which are widely diverse in their habits, and each of which con- 
fines its attack to a limited portion of the tree. Those which 
bore in the bark, for example, are always different from those 
which feed upon the foliage or which are nourished by the seed. 
Similarly, there is hardly a single plant-feeding insect which is 
not attacked by one or more different parasites, each of which is 
limited in its attack to some stage in the development of the par- 
ticular species which serves as host. The parasites which attack 
the caterpillars of a plant-destroying insect, like the gypsy moth, 
never attack the pupa? or the eggs ; but there are other parasites 
which do attack these stages. 

Plant-feeding insects very rarely attack more than a few sorts 
of i)lants or trees. Some, like the gypsy moth, are very general 
feeders, and will eat the foliage of pine and fir as well' as of oak 
and birch; but the number which feed upon both pine and oak 
are very few, and even the gypsy moth displays a strong prefer- 
ence for the foliage of broad-leaved trees. There are a great 
many which will feed upon nothing but oak, and there are many 
which are even more restricted, and which are never found on 
more than one kind of oak. Exactly the same is true of the 
parasites : some are general feeders, and will attack a great va- 
riety of hosts; others are extremely particular in this res]-»ect, 
and will not attack, or, if they are forced to attack, their young 



GYPSY AND BROWN-TAIL MOTHS. 9 

cannot develop npon, more than a very limited number of hosts. 
The great majority are thus closely restricted in their host rela- 
tions, and the parasites which are most effective in controlling 
the increase of plant-feeding insects are generally of this char- 
acter. It is on account of this that the many hundreds of dif- 
ferent parasites of native caterpillars do not, and cannot, attack 
and control an insect like the gypsy moth, which is different in 
many respects from any native American insect. 

NATURAL CONTROL OF THE GYPSY MOTH. 

With the exception of the parasites, nearly every, and prob- 
ably every, controlling agency which works to keep the gypsy 
moth within bounds in Europe and Japan is present in America. 
Mortality through catastrophic causes, such as storms and cli- 
matic changes, is heavy here, as it is abroad. It is probable that 
the birds, which destroy so many of the caterpillars, pupae and 
moths, are equally effective in both Europe and America. Dis- 
ease, induced through overpopulation, is more prevalent in some 
parts of Massachusetts than in those countries where overpopu- 
lation is not so apt to occur ; and a multitude of predatory in- 
sects, notably, the bugs described by Mr. Kirkland in the report 
on " The Gypsy Moth," by Forbush and Fernald, render great 
assistance. So effective are these various agencies, that, taking 
the older infested section as a whole, the gypsy moth is prac- 
tically at a standstill so far as permanent increase in numbers 
is concerned. Its numbers cannot be said to decrease to a notice- 
able extent, except as the immediate result of artificial repres- 
sion, and it has reached its maximum possible abundance. If it 
had continued to increase at a rate of only twofold annually, it 
would l)y 1909 have been thirty-two times as common as it was 
in 1904 in tracts of woodland where artificial sujipression could 
not be economically employed. This is obviously not the case. 

Even in newly infested territory, where the controlling ef- 
fect of starvation and disease is hardly or not at all aitparent, 
an increase of six-fold annually' durino- the first few years is 
about all that is expected ; and when it is considered that the 
nundier of eggs deposited by one female is frequently in excess 
of 500, it is at once evident that natural causes are responsible 

'Forbush and Fernald: "The Gypsy Moth," p. 94. 



10 IMPORTED PARASITES. 

for the destruction of a tremendous percentage. Five hundred 
eggs, developing into an equal number of males and females, 
would result in the deposition of 250 egg masses the summer 
following, or an increase of two hundred and fifty-fold. If 
only a six-fold increase in the number of egg masses results, it 
is evident that 244 of the females must be destroyed at some 
time during their life; in other words there is an approximate 
mortality of no less than 97.6 per cent, annually in Massachu- 
setts, due to natural causes. 

So, to reduce the number of survivors as to permit of no an- 
nual increase, on the average, in territory where the gypsy moth 
is not sufficiently abundant to become a pest, is the hope and 
aim of the work of parasite introduction. As already stated, 
there is no steady increase of the moth in the central most 
badly infested sections of the area of infestation ; but the control 
brought about by famine and plague within this area is so ex- 
clusively dependent upon overpopulation, which is to say, upon 
a superabundance of the moth, as to make very probable a con- 
tinuation of the present conditions for an indefinite period, un- 
less some other factor becomes operative. 

PARASITE INTRODUCTION IN THEORY AND PRACTICE. 

If, as is believed by those who have the matter most at 
heart, the only important controlling agency which is lacking in 
America is the presence of the parasites which are such effective 
factors in its control abroad, the introduction of these parasites 
into America and their establishment here is all that is neces- 
sary to bring about the reduction of the gypsy moth from its 
present pre-eminence as a destructive pest to that of an innocu- 
ous or rarely noxious insect. The problem at first sight seems 
simple, but, like most undertakings, it develops complications in 
its practical solution. 

Long before the work of parasite introduction was l)egun, all 
of the published records of European parasites and other ene- 
mies were well known to the Bureau of Entomology, which for 
years had been keeping track of such observations, and had ac- 
cumulated a card catalogue with more than 20,000 references. 
As soon as work was begun, additional information concerning 
gypsy and brown-tail parasites was secured from European and 



GYPSY AND BROWN-TAIL MOTHS. 11 

Japanese entomologists, who were most generous in their offers 
of assistance and advice. At the same time, it must be ad- 
mitted that the sum total of available and absolutely reliable 
information was far from adequate. Long lists of parasites had 
been compiled ^ but these records were based upon the notes and 
observations of entomologists who were not particularly inter- 
ested in the possible practical side of the question, and very 
frequently their records amounted to little more than the bare 
fact that a certain parasite had been reared in connection with 
the gypsy moth or the brown-tail moth. Furthermore, the same 
parasite was sometimes referred to by different entomologists 
under different names, or different parasites were considered to 
be the same, and on this account hardly any dependence could 
be placed on many of the records, and the doubt was reflected 
upon others. With very rare exceptions, nothing was published 
which gave any clue to the relative importance of the different 
species, and in several instances a secondary parasite was re- 
corded as attacking the gypsy moth itself. 

The work in the beginning was largely experimental, being 
an effort to determine ways and means for securing the parasites 
in a living and healthy condition. This accomplished, it be- 
came necessary to make a critical study of the various species 
secured, to determine, first of all, whether they were truly pri- 
mary enemies of the moth, or whether they were present in some 
other connection. If they proved to be primary parasites and 
true enemies of the gypsy moth, they were liberated as rapidly 
as they could be imported and reared. As the work progressed, 
the various species were studied in greater and greater detail, 
and were ranked according to their relative importance in the 
countries to which they were native, and according to their 
methods of attack. Every effort was made to learn the main 
facts in the life and habits of each, and to become familiar with 
the conditions necessary to insure the establishment of each s])e- 
cies in Massachusetts. 

["pon numerous occasions knowledge of this character has 
been of the greatest value in suggesting the methods of import- 
ing, handling and colonizing the parasites, and in some instances 
it was essential to success. The work has been seriously handi- 

1 Howard: "Insect Life," vol. 2, p. 210. Forbush and Fernald: "The Gypsy Moth," pp. 
377 and 387. 



12 IMPORTED PARASITES. 

capped through the practical necessity of entrusting the actual 
work of collection and shipment in foreign countries to others 
than those most familiar with the nature and needs of the various 
parasites. The several trips which Dr. Howard has made 
abroad, wholly or in part in the interest of this undertaking, has 
enabled him to meet the foreign agents, and to enter into ex- 
planations which were infinitely more satisfactory than any 
which could be effected through correspondence. At the same 
time, it has been impossible to convey to these agents the detailed 
information which would enable them to work to the best advan- 
tage, nor would it be possible for them to acquire this in any 
manner short of actual experience in the laboratory. In par- 
ticular has it been handicapped by the very short period during 
which work upon any particular j^arasite could be carried on in 
any one year. Parasites of the pupa, or of certain stages of the 
caterpillars, could be collected in Europe or Japan only during 
the season when pupse or caterpillars in those particular stages 
occurred in the open in those countries ; and the aggregate period 
during which it has been possible to work with some parasites 
in the five years since the inception of the work does not exceed 
as many months. 

In all, there have been received at the laboratory in a living 
condition between 40 and 50 species of parasites of the brown- 
tail moth and of the gypsy moth. Of these, about 30 attack the 
gypsy moth, but only about two-thirds of that number can be 
considered as at all important. The others seem always to be 
rare in the countries to which they are native, and never to be- 
come so abundant as to affect the increase of the moth. 'No 
parasite, however rare it might seem to be, has been ignored, 
once it was demonstrated to be a primary upon the gypsy or the 
brown-tail. A great deal of time has been spent in attempting 
to discover the probable reason for apparent inconsequence in so 
many instances ; and a great deal of work has been done to dem- 
onstrate that this was due to other causes than defective methods 
in the collection and subsequent handling of the parasite im- 
portations. 

One by one, as material has been imported under different 
conditions and from different countries, different species of 
parasites have been added to the list, until it has exceeded in 



GYPSY AND BROWN-TAIL MOTHS. 13 

gross numbers any list of parasites of the gypsy moth which 
has ever been published. One by one, as these parasites have 
been received and studied, they have been rated according to 
their habits and importance in the countries from which they 
came, and those which have failed to show promise of ever 
becoming of value in America have been eliminated. One by 
one, different species have been liberated in America under the 
most favorable conditions which could be provided for their 
establishment, until at the present time there are only 3 or -t 
out of a total of 20 (which may be considered as including all 
of the promising parasites of the gypsy moth in Europe and 
Japan) which have not been liberated here, or which are not on 
hand ready for liberation as soon as the proper season shall ar- 
rive. The others, tentatively considered as of possible value, 
are very rarely common in any country; and partly on this 
account, and partly on account of the extraordinary difficulties 
which stand in the way of their successful importation, it has 
been impracticable to determine whether they are to be ranked 
as promising, or not. It is very likely that they will prove to be 
of a distinctly minor importance w^hen they shall have been 
thoroughly investigated. "^ 

SEQUENCE OF PARASITES. 

There is one very important factor which must be taken into 
consideration and thoroughly understood before it will be pos- 
sible intelligently to discuss the work which has been accom- 
plished in the importation of parasites of the gypsy moth. 
Briefly stated, it is that no one parasite is capable of effecting 
the necessary amount of control in an insect of the character of 
the gypsy moth, and capable of a similarly rapid rate of increase 
when unchecked by parasites ; but a sequence of parasites, which 
will attack the insect in different stages of its development, and 
all the component members of which will w'ork together in har- 
mony, is absolutely necessary before the best results may be 
expected. 

It has already been stated that the different parasites of one 
host are limited in their attack to certain stages in the develop- 
ment of this host. In the case of the gypsy moth, there are 
some which attack the egg, others the young caterpillars or the 



14 IMPORTED PARASITES. 

older and larger caterpillars, and those which form still another 
group reserve their attack until such time as the caterpillars 
have spun up prej^aratory to their transformation into pupse, or 
until after this transformation has taken place. It is confi- 
dently believed that representatives of each of these three or 
four groups will have to be established in America before any 
marked results of a practical nature can be expected. 

There are two exceedingly good reasons for believing this, 
which may be mentioned here besides others equally good, but 
less easily expressed in non-technical language. One of these 
is the fact that in not a single instance has one species of para- 
site been found sufficiently abundant abroad to bring about the 
percentage of destruction which will certainly be necessary in 
order to offset the six-fold rate of increase of the gypsy moth, 
which it is the consensus of opinion exists in newly infested 
territory in America at the present time. The other is, that 
there is not a single species of defoliating caterpillar, similar 
in habit to the gypsy moth, of which the parasites have been 
studied, and which is controlled by them to any extent, which 
does not support a sequence of parasites similar to that which 
it is proposed to establish for the gypsy moth. 

If the theory as to the necessity of a sequence of parasites be 
accepted as a general rule, its importance cannot be overesti- 
mated. Success in the work of parasite introduction will then 
depend entirely on whether or not a sufficient variety of para- 
sites can be established in America, and cannot obtain until all 
of the species which go to make up a natural and effective se- 
quence are established, and have increased to a sufficient abun- 
dance to make each of the chain effective in its own particular 
field. The predaceous beetles alone can never bring about the 
desired end, neither can the egg parasites, nor those of the pupa?, 
nor, it is believed, can all these three groups together. The 
parasites of the caterpillar, in addition to these others men- 
tioned, ought to bring about the desired end. The Calosoma 
beetles bid fair to assist the native predatory enemies materially 
in the good work which they are doing, and their establishment 
will make that which is expected of the parasites easier and 
more certain of accomplishment. 

It ought to be stated, in this connection, that this principle, 



PLATE II. 




Large Shipment of Parasite Material received in 1909 from France. 




Gypsy Moth Laboratory, Exterior. Lot of Packages of Parasite Material just 

received. 



GYPSY AND BROWN-TAIL MOTHS. 15 

while it has been recognized as one applicable in many instances, 
has been established mnch more firmly than ever before, as a 
result of the work which has been done at the laboratory. It 
would be impossible to speak with so much assurance had it not 
been for a series of investigations upon the parasites of several 
native insects, similar in certain important respects to the gypsy 
moth. These investigations have seemed sometimes to be out- 
side of the main point at issue ; but their value in establishing, 
as they have, this and certain other general propositions, has 
justified many times over the relatively small expenditure nec- 
essary to carry them on. 

PARASITES OF THE GYPSY MOTH IN JAPAN. 

The Japanese race of the gypsy moth is larger and stronger 
and in certain other respects different from that found in Eu- 
rope or in x^merica. One important characteristic is its greater 
fecundity, the number of eggs in a mass being from one-fourth 
to one-third greater, on an average, than in the egg mass of the 
typical European variety. This is indicative of greater powers 
of resistance to natural controlling factors, and, conversely, of 
the existence of more eft'ective controlling agencies in Japan 
than in Europe. It is very significant that it is not at all an 
important pest in Japan, and that, in the opinion of the native 
entomologists and of every American entomologist or other- 
wise trained observer who has had opportunity to acquire first- 
hand information, the parasites are very effective in its control. 

Thirteen species of primary parasites have been reared from 
eggs, caterpillars or pup?e of the gypsy moth from Japan, but 
only 7 of these can be considered as of importance in l)ringing 
about its control. The others have been consistently rare, and 
some of them have never been recorded as parasites by the Japa- 
nese themselves. 

These parasites, in every instance but one, are either identical 
in all respects, or, if not absolutely the same, exceedingly similar 
to the parasites in Europe. It is unfortunately necessary to 
refer to them by their technical names, since none of them have 
been considered as of general interest hitherto, and other than 
such names there are none. Thev are listed in Table 1. 



16 



IMPORTED PARASITES. 






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Crossocoaniia sp 

Theronia atalautte, 

Chalcis obscurata, 



GYPSY AND BROW^^-TAIL MOTHS. 17 

How thev work iu effecting the control of the moth in their 
native country is best indicated in the table, which, while it 
needs explanation, tells the story much plainer than it would be 
possible to tell in words. Opposite the name of each parasite, 
extending across a certain number of the vertical columns, is a 
dotted and a solid line. The vertical columns indicate different 
stages in the development and transformations of the gypsy 
moth, as egg, caterpillar and pupa, and these are still further 
divided into caterpillars of different sizes and eggs and pupee 
of different ages and conditions. At the head of each column is 
stated the approximate number of days during which the indi- 
vidual gypsy moth remains in that particular stage. 

The dotted line following the name of the parasite indicates 
those stages in the life of the gypsy moth during which it is 
liable to be attacked by the parasite in question, and it will be 
seen that in a number of instances, as, for example, Chalcis and 
Theronia, this period is exceedingly short. The solid line indi- 
cates the stages in the life of the gypsy moth during which it is 
likely to contain the parasite in its body. This, it may also be 
noted, varies considerably. Crossocosmia, for example, gains 
lodgment in the active caterpillar while it is only about half 
grown, and the extension of the solid line across all of the 
columns which stand for the later caterpillar stages, as well as 
for all of the pupal stages, indicates that the larvae of this para- 
site do not leave the host caterpillar until after it has trans- 
formed to a pupa, and until the moth would naturally have 
emerged had the pupa remained healthy and unparasitized. 

The main fact, which it is particularly desired to emphasize, 
is that every stage in the transformations of the gypsy moth, 
from the time the eggs are first deposited until the caterpillars 
are full grown and transformed to pupse, is subject to the attack 
of one or more parasites. It is also liable to attack at any time 
throughout this period except during the cold weather in the 
winter, when there is no insect activity. This is exactly w^hat 
is meant by the sequence of parasites, and, in the opinion of 
those most thoroughly informed, it is the condition which it is 
absolutely necessary to bring about in America before complete 
cjontrol can be effected. 



18 IMPORTED PARASITES. 



PARASITES OF THE GYPSY MOTH IN EUROPE. 

Table 2 is similar in construetioii and illustrates the para- 
sitism of the gypsy moth in Europe. There are at least 22 
species, and possibly one or two more of slight importance, 
known to attack the moth in various European countries, and 
of these, 15 are considered to be important. Of the 22, 2 are 
identical in all respects with 2 which occur in Japan, and are 
considered to be the same species. Six or 7 are quite distinctly 
ditferent from any which have yet been received from Japan, 
and it is impossible to separate the remainder from +he Japa- 
nese species by habit and method of attack alone. The most 
of them, however, appear to be different in their final appear- 
ance as adults, and are considered, for the present, as repre- 
senting different species. 

There are several reasons why there should be a longer list 
of European than of Japanese parasites, principal among which 
is the greater variety of climate represented by the dift'erent 
European countries. Some of the parasites are confined al- 
most exclusively to the Mediterranean region, others to Russia 
and eastern Europe generally, while others are more common 
in the northern, central and Avestern portions. It is almost cer- 
tain that other parasites will be found in other parts of the Jap- 
anese empire from which small quantities of parasite material 
have been received, but it is very doubtful if any of importance 
will be added to the list from European sources. 

It will be noted, if the table is scrutinized, that exactly the 
same conditions as regards the sequence of parasites obtain in 
Europe as in Japan. As in the table first given, every stage 
of the moth from the newly deposited egg to the pupa is open to 
attack by one or more species of parasite, and the sequence is 
perfect. 



GYPSY AND BROWN-TAIL MOTHS. 



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a 


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— 








PARASITES. 


Anastatus bifasciatus, 

Apanteles solitarius, 


, 







1 
> 
"3 

Ij 

a 

C3 

a 
=? 
p. 


Blepliaripa scutellata, .... 
Compsilura concinnata, .... 

Zygobothria gilva, 

Carcelia gnava, 

Trieholyga grandis, .... 

Tachina larvarum 

Parasetigena segregata, .... 

Ichneumon disparis 

Theronia atalantse, 

Chalcis flavipes 

Monodontomerus aereus, 

Calosoma sycophanta, .... 



20 IMPORTED PARASITES. 



PARASITES OF THE GYPSY MOTH IN AMERICA. 

There is just one parasite of the gypsy moth in xVmeriea, na- 
tive to the country, which ranks in importance with the least 
of those included in the tables of Japanese and European para- 
sites. This is Theronia, and the native species is so similar in 
habit as to be indistinguishable from the other species of the 
same genus which attack the same host in Europe and Japan, 
and it cannot as yet be stated with assurance that it is not the 
same. It is literally the least important of all of the parasites 
listed, and the maximum effectiveness in America is, if any- 
thing, less than in any foreign country. It cannot be credited 
with destroying more than 1 in 30 or 1 in 50 of the pupie, on 
the average, and never more than 1 in 10 under the most fa- 
vorable conditions ever observed. A table of the native para- 
sites of the gypsy moth (leaving out the rare and inconsequen- 
tial species), prepared for comparison with those of the Euro- 
pean and Japanese, would consist of this species and no other, 
and the difference is obvious. 

In Table 3 are listed all of the parasites which have been 
received from Europe or Japan in sufficient numbers to make 
possible satisfactory colonization in America. There are 4 or 5 
more which have been liberated in small numbers, or which are 
on hand ready for liberation in the spring, including Tachina 
japonica and CJinlcis ohscumfa. Japanese representatives of the 
European species, and having nearly identical habits. There 
are also on hand at the laboratory a large number of the hiber- 
nating puparia of Parasetigena segrecjata and Crossocosmla sp., 
both of which are parasites of some promise, and neither of 
which has vet been colonized. 



GYPSY AND BROWN-TAIL MOTHS. 



21 



^ 
g 



5^ 

Si, 



(TO 
K 

5 
< 



i 


< 






























i 

o 

< 

•< 


00 

^ Q 












im oa 
fa Q 
















Pre- 
pupa, 

2 
Days. 














" ■ : 1 


O 

•«: 
t. 

CB 

.J 
< 
> 

< 


J5 


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5 Q 


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■H" c3 




ci 
o 

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*^ 73 

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PARASITES. 


X 

1 1 

;^ § 

j2 3 
CO -^ 
3 n 

3 :| 

s "3 


, 


- ' 


I 


c. 
> 

3 
9 

a 
1 


Blepliaripa scutollata 

Compsilui'a concinnata, .... 

Zygoljotliria gilva 

Carcelia gnava, 

Tricholyga grandis, .... 

Tachina larvarum 

Therouia fulvescens, .... 

Chalcis flavipes, 

Monodontomerus aereus, 

Calosoma sycophanta 



22 IMPORTED PARASITES. 

It is not by any means assnred that all of those parasites are 
established here, bnt it is possible that they are, or that they 
will be before another season passes. Some that are known to 
be living in the field, and which are apparently in a very good 
way toward becoming permanent fixtnres in the American fanna, 
have had their freedom for less than one year ; and there is no 
assurance that a species is established nntil it has completed 
at least one cycle of the seasons unprotected in the open. A 
few of them, as will be shown later, will be the better for 
artificial assistance in dispersion, etc. One, Chalcis, onght to 
be imported in larger numbers, bnt with this one possible ex- 
ception, each that is listed has been liberated under the most 
favorable circumstances which it is possible to provide. 

Especial attention is called to the fact that the sequence is 
complete as it stands. Every stage of the moth is provided with 
a parasite which will attack it, if given the opportunity, and in 
every respect the table compares favorably with that illustrative 
of the Japanese parasites or of the European. It represents, 
in this most important respect, the climax of the endeavors of 
the past five years, and it has been accomplished only during the 
])ast five months. If the writer were assured of the firm estab- 
lishment of each of the species listed, and that each would be- 
come as efficient in Massachusetts as it is in the countries from 
which it came, he would state without reservation that the work 
of parasite introduction was successfully accomplished. 

The reader must not confuse the accomplishment of parasite 
introduction with the accomplishment of the end which it is 
desired to achieve. It goes without saying, when the halnts of 
the parasites are taken into consideration, that the few paltry 
thousands, which it has been possible to secure through methods 
of importation which were the best which experience could 
devise, must be allowed sufiicient time to increase to the millions 
and billions necessary to cope with the tremendous quantities 
of gypsy moths which are everywhere in evidence throughout 
the infested district, wherever the ex]iensive methods of hand 
suppression have not been employed. 

Fortunately, this increase, if it follows colonization, will be 
by geometrical progression, exactly as has been the case with the 
gypsy moth; and it will, most fortunately, be much more rapid 




Kn;. -2. — An;ist;itus 
H'lvatlv cnlar.nL'i 




Fid. 3. — Anastatus: hilnTiiatin,^ 
larva from gyiisy niotli eg.n' 
ureatlv enlarged. 



GYPSY AND BROA¥N-TAIL MOTHS. 23 

than it was in the case of the gypsy moth, owing to the greater 
dispersive powers of nearly all of the parasites. With one 
exception, they more nearly resemble the brown-tail moth in 
this respect, being gifted with the power of flight ; and, as is 
well known, the territory covered by this insect is mnch more 
extensive than that covered by the gypsy moth, althongh the 
latter was introduced into America more than twenty years 
earlier. 

Another enormons step in advance, which has marked the 
progress of the work the present season, is the accnmnlation 
of certain valuable data which throw much-needed light upon 
the subject of parasite dispersion, and which have tended more 
than anything which has come about since the earliest beginning 
to encourage those who have been charged with direction of 
the work. For the first time it is possible to calculate, with 
some foundation upon fact, the probable outcome of the under- 
taking. It is difficult to do this on the small amount of abso- 
lutely authentic information at hand, and to vouch for the 
accuracy of the conclusions with any degree of assurance ; but 
the attempt has been made, and will appear in the concluding 
paragraphs. 

First, in order to make more clear the ground which supports 
these conclusions, a brief account of each of the introduced 
parasites of the gypsy moth will be given. Xo attempts have 
been made to go into technical detail concerning the lives and 
habits of these several species, further than is necessary to give 
a general idea of their methods of attack, and of the hopes and 
fears which are felt for the future of each. 

Pakasites of the Egg. 
Anastatus hifasciatus. 
This minute parasite (Fig. 1 ) attacks the newly deposited 
eggs of the gypsy moth during the brief interval which elapses 
before the embryonic caterpillars develop. Its eggs (Fig. 2) 
are deposited singly, one in each individual egg of the host, and 
its larva? feed upon the substance of the host eggs and become 
full fed in about three weeks. They then enter on a long rest- 
ing stage, snugly ensconced within the limited confines of the 



24 IMPORTED PARASITES. 

shc41 (Fig, C), and do not resume activity until the middle of 
the following summer, ten months later. The transformations 
to pupa (Fig. 4) and adult (Fig. 1) follow in the course of two 
or three weeks, the latter emerge, and in a few days are ready 
to deposit eggs for another generation within the newly deposited 
eggs of the next generation of the gypsy moth. There is thus 
but one generation of the parasite each year, and its life cycle, 
which corresponds to the annual cycle, is correlated exactly with 
that of the insect which serves as its host. 

It is a native of both Europe and Japan, and is sometimes 
a common and effective parasite in either country. It is very 
unevenly distributed, however, especially in Europe, and a great 
many lots of eggs have been received which did not contain any 
of the parasite. For two years large numbers of egg masses 
were imported from various European and Japanese localities, 
and not a single specimen was secured. Finally, in the spring 
of 1908 it issued almost simultaneously from Russian and from 
Japanese eggs, and was soon determined to be a primary 
parasite. About 500 individuals were liberated that summer, 
but under conditions which were unsatisfactory in many re- 
spects, and no reproduction in the field resulted, so far as has 
been determined. 

Encouraged by the knowledge that there was ai> egg parasite 
which could be secured through the winter importation of eggs, 
— a fact which was far from being established \\p to the rearing 
of the first specimens of Anastatus, ■ — ■ larger imj>ortations from 
numerous localities were made during the winter of 1008— 01). 
As before, only a part of these shipments were productive, but 
among them was one consisting of five sacks of about 1,000 egg 
masses each, from Professor Jablonowski of Budapest, which 
were collected in five different Hungarian localities. From 
three of these only an insignificant quantity of parasites was 
secured, one lot being entirely unparasitized. From two, how- 
ever, was secured by far the largest number of egg parasites 
ever received from any source, there being more than 80,000 
all told. It illustrates very well the uneven distribution of the 
species in Europe. 

These, together with some others from other sources, were 
liberated in five colonies, in quite widely separated localities 




Fi(i. 4.— Aiiastatiis: puiia 
from Kyi'sy niotli ej^s, 
greatly enlarged. 




Fig. .">. — ^(iicdii/s l-iiniiiif : .laiiane^ii; iiarasitc of gypsy iiiotli eggs, adult female, greatly 

enlarged. 



GYPSY AND BROWN-TAIL MOTHS. 25 

within the infested area. In every instance they attacked the 
freshly deposited eggs of the moth with avidity, and reproduc- 
tion in the field under perfectly natural conditions resulted. 
At the present time there are many thousands of the larva? of 
the parasite hibernating in the open in the immediate vicinity 
of the colonies, exactly as they would do in their native land, 
and there is hardly room to doubt that they will issue next 
summer in the normal manner. 

In one respect only is the insect disappointing. It appears 
to resemble the gypsy moth, in that the females do not fly. 
The utmost endeavors have been made to determine accurately 
the distance to which it travelled from each of the points where 
it was liberated, and the results indicate that 100 feet is about 
the limit. This is a rate of dispersion slower than that of the 
gypsy moth itself, and it would take a great many years for the 
parasite to spread over the entire infested area. Additional 
importations will be made during the present winter, and it is 
hoped that a large number of colonies will be established next 
summer, but no immediate benefits can be expected. 

ScJtedius Jiuvance. 
Most fortunately it is not necessary to depend exclusively 
upon the Anastatus as a parasite of the eggs of the gypsy moth, 
for in Japan there is another (Fig. 5) with similar habits, in 
so far as the object of its attack is identical ; outside of this fact, 
it is different in many important particulars. Instead of con- 
fining its attack to the freshly deposited eggs, it rather prefers 
those in which the embryonic caterpillars have developed, and, 
since these caterpillars are fully formed, and so far as appear- 
ances go ready to hatch within three weeks after the eggs are 
deposited in the summer, Schedius is actually a parasite of the 
unhatched caterpillar, rather than of the egg. Instead of re- 
quiring a full year to complete the life cycle from egg to adult, 
it completes a generation once every three or four weeks during 
the warmer part of the summer, or in the winter if kept in rooms 
properly warmed. It is thus able to go through at least two 
generations during the fall, after the eggs of the moth have been 
deposited, and before cold weather puts a stop to its activity. 



26 IMPORTED PARASITES. 

The history of its introduetiou into America is most interest- 
ing, and, except for the fact that it was so Lmg delayed in ex- 
ecution, forms one of the most satisfactory episodes in the entire 
work of parasite introduction. 

As long ago as the spring of 1907 a few dead adults w^ere se- 
cured in an importation of gypsy egg masses received during the 
winter from Japan, but none were living on receipt. During 
the winter next following larger importations were made, and 
many thousands of eggs, from wdiich some parasite had issued, 
were found, but not a single living specimen was obtained. It 
was evident that it completed its transformations and issued in 
the fall, and that, if it hibernated in the eggs, it was warmed to 
activity while the packages were in transit to America, and the 
adult parasites either died or escaped en route. 

In the fall, winter and spring of 1908-09 a large quantity of 
eggs of the gypsy moth were received from Japan, the shipments 
beginning early in the fall and continuing until nearly time for 
the caterpillars to hatch in the spring. The first, received in 
September, contained hundreds, possibly thousands, of the para- 
sites, which had issued from the eggs en route, and all of which, 
as usual, had died ; not a single living individual was received. 
Specimens were referred to Dr. How-ard, who found that they 
i'e]iresented an entirely new and hitherto undescribed species, 
which he named after Professor Ivuwana, w^ho collected and sent 
the eggs from which they had issued. A single pair of living 
specimens rewarded the careful attention which was lavished 
upon the importations received later in the fall and during the 
winter, and it was not until April, 1909, that a mated pair could 
be secured. During that month a total of 11 individuals issued 
from cages containing Japanese eggs recently received. 

This small number served as the beginning of a series of ex- 
]ieriments in propagation, which succeeded so well that in Au- 
gust several thousands were available for liberation in the field. 
In September and again in October additional colonies were es- 
tal)lished, and during the fall, some r)0,000 in all Avere given 
their freedom. 

After September the bulk of those reared were kept for exten- 
sive propagation work in the laboratory, and at the present time 
(Februarv 1) a conservative estimate of the numl)er in various 




Fig. 6. — Gypsy motli eg^ niiiss, show- 
ing exit holes ot Schedius, enltirged 
.•il>out four times. 



GYPSY AND BROWN-TAIL MOTHS. 27 

stages in the rei^roduction cages is 2,000,000. It is bv no means 
sure that the species will go through the winter in the open as 
successfully as is hoped will he the case ; but no obstacle threat- 
ens to prevent the liberation of several millions of the parasite 
during the summer of 1910. 

The reproduction of the parasite in the field, as a result of 
the earlier attempts at colonization, has been far in excess of 
expectations. The rate of reproduction in the laboratory, which 
averages only about ten-fold each generation, was greatly ex- 
ceeded, and hundreds of thousands of eggs were kno\\ni to be 
parasitized in the immediate vicinity of the colony sites. In 
the one colony which has been most carefully watched the para- 
sitized eggs (Fig. 6) average some 30 to the mass everywhere 
within a radius of 50 yards, and the masses in a few places are 
so thick as to hide the liark on the trees. Beyond 50 yards the 
numbers fall off very rapidly ; Init the s]iecies has been found 
several hundred yards from the ]ioint of liberation, in striking 
contrast to Anastatus, which traveled only 100 feet. 

It is hoped that a strong colony will be established in evevy 
town in the infested district during the coming summer ; and if 
the same rate of dispersion indicated during the past fall con- 
tinues, and the parasite demonstrates its ability to exist under 
American conditions during the entire year, it should be gen- 
erally established throughout the iufested area in two or three 
years more. 

It must not be forgotten, however, that it has not yet proven 
itself adaptable to American conditions at all seasons. Like the 
other eQ:g parasite, Anastatus, the only known host is the gypsy 
moth ; but, unlike that species, its life is not correlated to that 
of its host. It is not known how it passes the winter, and, al- 
though living adults issue within a few days from eii:g, masses 
brought in from the vicinity of the colonies in December, it is 
possible that they will not survive the cold weather which is 
bound to follow in January and February.^ There is also a 
possibility that in Japan there is some other sort of egfi subject 
to its attack, in which it passes a generation during the early 

* This statement was written in December. It has since been found that all of the larvae and 
pupse of the parasites perished during the cold weather in January, but that adult parasites, of 
which there are known to be many in the field, lived through it. Whether they will survive 
the remainder of the winter is yet to be demonstrated. 



28 IMPORTED PARASITES. 

summer, before the eggs of the gypsy moth are available, and 
that there will be no native insect which will give what may 
prove to be some such necessary aid to its continued existence. 

Parasites of the Catekpillak. 
Glyptapanteles fulvipes. 

Although this was almost the first parasite of the gypsy moth 
which attracted any attention in Massachusetts, and the first 
which it was attemj^ted to import after the beginning of active 
work, it was one of the last to be liberated under satisfactory 
conditions, and its establishment in America is not yet certain. 
Extraordinary methods were necessary to bring it to America 
living and healthy, and it was not until Prof. Trevor Kincaid, 
who was selected by Dr. Howard as the best available man for 
the purpose, visited Japan, and personally superintended the 
collection and shipment of the cocoons, that success was achieved. 
The story of Professor Kincaid's experiences and of the difficul- 
ties which he met and overcame is interesting. He was accorded 
groat and material assistance by the Japanese entomologists, and 
the work inaugurated by him in 1908, was continued with even 
greater success in 1909, 

The adult parasite (Fig. 7) deposits a number of eggs be- 
neath the skin of the active caterpillars, and any stage, from 
the first to and possibly including the last, may be attacked. 
The larva?, hatching from the eggs, become full grown in from 
two to three weeks, and then work their way out through the 
skin of the still living caterpillar (Fig, 8) within the body of 
which they fed. Each spins for itself immediately afterward, 
f(U- its better protection during its later stages, a small white 
cocoon. The number of parasites nourished by a single host 
varies in accordance with its size. There may be as few as 2 
or 3 in very small caterpillars, or 100 or more in those which 
are nearly full grown. 

The unfortunate victim of attack does not, as a rule, die im- 
mediately after the emergence of the parasite larvje and the spin- 
ning of their cocoons, but it never voluntarily moves from the 
spot. Its appearance, both before and after death, surrounded 
by and seeming to brood over the cocoons, is peculiar and char- 
acteristic, and once seen can never be mistaken (Fig. 9). 




Fl( 



i./!//i/i/p(intt/(>!i f/ilriji,.-i : Japani'sc and Kuropeaii cattT- 
pillar parasite, ailult, urcatly cnlarned. 




Fk;. .'^. — Glyptapanteles: larva? leavi 
gyiisj- moth caterpillar, colarged. 




Fiu. 1). — (ilyptapaiiteles : dead gypsy moth 
caterpillar surroimded by cocoons of 
parasite, slightly enlarged. 



GYPSY AND BROWN-TAIL MOTHS. 29 

There is ample opportunity for two generations of tbe para- 
site annually upon the caterpillars of one generation of the 
gypsy moth. This is the rule in the countries to which it is 
native, and is to be expected in America. 

The parasite was described from Europe more than seventy- 
five years ago, and has been known to be a parasite of the 
gypsy moth for a long time. Later it was described under a 
different name from Japan, and the Japanese parasite was for 
a time considered to be different from the European. Abso- 
lutely no differences in life and habit which can serve to sepa- 
rate the two are known, and, as the adults are also indistinguish- 
able in appearance, they are considered to be identical. 

It has been the subject of frequent mention under the name 
of Apanteles, as well as of Glyptapanteles, in the various reports 
of the superintendent of moth work, from the first to the fourth ; 
and Dr. Howard, in the account of his first trip to Europe in 
the interests of parasite introduction, tells of its occurrence in 
the suburbs of Vienna. Largely on account of the fact that it 
is much more conspicuous than many of the other parasites, it 
has attracted more general attention. The Rev. IT. A. Loomis, 
a missionary, and resident of Yokohama, was the first to call 
attention to its importance in Japan, and made several unsuc- 
cessful attempts to send it to America. Dr. G. P. Clinton, 
mycologist of the Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station, 
who visited Japan in 1909, observed the parasite at work, and 
reported most favorably upon its efficiency as a check to the 
moth. Numerous other attempts on the part of European and 
Japanese entomologists, including one elaborate experiment, 
which involved the shipment of a large wire-screened cage con- 
taining a living tree with gypsy caterpillars and the parasite, 
were made, but with uniformly ill success. Upon every oc- 
casion the parasites all emerged from their cocoons and died 
en route. 

When every other means failed, Professor Kincaid, as already 
stated, was deputed to visit Japan, and to make all necessary 
arrangements for the transportation of the parasite cocoons in 
cold storage to America. The arrangements which he perfected 
provided for continuous cold storage, not only en route across 
the Pacific, but during practically every moment from the time 



30 IMPORTED PARASITES. 

the cocoons were collected in the field in Japan until they were 
received at the laboratory in Melrose. Events justified the 
adoption of every precaution, and, with all the care, only a 
small part of the very large quantity of cocoons which he col- 
lected reached their destination in good condition. Hundreds 
of thousands were collected and shipped, and less than 50,000 
were received alive, — nearly all in one shipment in July. 

The season in Massachusetts was early, and nearly all of the 
gypsy caterpillars had pupated by that time, so that there was 
no opportunity for the parasite to increase in the field upon this 
host that season. In 1909 the sites of the colonies were fre- 
quently visited, but not a single parasitized caterpillar was 
found which could be traced to colonizations of the year before. 
Keen disappointment was at first felt, but later developments 
have tended to throw a more encouraging light upon the situa- 
tion. 

In 1909 importations were continued, through the magnificent 
efforts of Prof. S. L Kuwana of the Imperial Agricultural 
Experiment Station, at Tokio, with much more satisfactory 
results. In 1908 the season in Japan was very late, and it was 
not practicable to send any of the cocoons of the parasite until 
June and July ; while in America the season was early, and by 
that time all of the caterpillars, as has already been stated, had 
pupated. In 1909 the season was rather early in Japan and 
correspondingly late in America; and besides, through special 
effort, Professor Kuwana was enabled to send a few thousands 
of the cocoons of the first generation, which reached the labora- 
tory early in June. About 1,000 adults emerged from these 
cocoons after receipt, and the most of them were placed in one 
colony in a cold situation on the l^orth Shore, where the cater- 
pillars were greatly retarded, and where there were still some 
in the first stage. The remainder were colonized in warmer 
localities, where the caterpillars were one stage farther 
advanced. 

Immediate success followed the planting of these colonies. 
Within three weeks cocoons were found in each, and the number 
of parasitized caterpillars was gratifyingly large. A very care- 
ful investigation was conducted, to determine the pro]3ortion 
which was attacked by native secondary parasites ; and. while 
this was so verv laroe in one instance as seriously to jeopardize 



GYPSY AND BROWN-TAIL MOTHS. 31 

the success of the experiment, it was not so large in the 
others. 

There were several thousands of this first generation known 
to have developed in the open upon American soil, which issued 
from the cocoons some four or five weeks after the colonies were 
established, hut in only that one on the North Shore, where the 
caterpillars were in the first and second stages when the parasites 
were liberated, was there a full second generation. Here the 
larger caterpillars were again attacked, and an abundant second 
generation of the parasite followed, 

^feanwhile, additional shipments of cocoons of the second 
Japanese generation were received early enough to permit of 
a generation in the open upon the native caterpillars, and sev- 
eral other colonies were successfully established. It is kno^^^l 
that there were many thousands of the parasite issuing in at 
least five diiferent localities during August, but immediately 
thereafter they were completely lost to sight, and it is futile to 
hope to recover traces of them before another spring. 

Until the late summer of 1909 nothing occurred to indicate 
that this parasite would be likely to fly for any great distance 
from the point of its liberation ; and, as has been already stated, 
it was looked for in vain in the summer of 1909 in the imme- 
diate vicinity of the colonies of the year before. In -July, 1909, 
a strong colony was planted in an isolated woodland cnlony of 
gypsy moths in the town of Milton. It was rather confidently 
expected that it would attack these caterpillars so extensively 
as to destroy the major portion ; but it was the cause of some 
surprise, when the locality was visited after the parasites of the 
new generation had mostly issued from the affected caterpillars, 
to find a smaller number of cocoons than there were individuals 
liberated in the first place, and only about one-fourth, perhaps 
less, of the caterpillars attacked. The circumstance was as dis- 
couraging as anything which had gone before, and for a few 
days nothing happened to change its complexion. Then, to the 
intense surprise of the writer, Mr. Charles W, Minott, field 
agent of the central division, sent to the laboratory a hona-fide 
example of the parasite, which had been collected in the Blue 
Hills reservation, upwards of a mile away. There was no pos- 
sible source except the ]\Iilton colon> , and a spread of upwards 
of a mile in somethino' under a week was indicated bevond dis- 



32 IMPORTED PARASITES. 

pute. At almost the same time the brood of Monodontomerus 
was found for the first time in pupoB of the gypsy moth in the 
field ; and when the history of this species is considered, in the 
connection which it bears toward the circumstances surrounding 
the recovery of the Glyptapanteles so far from the j)oint where 
it was liberated, the whole situation is altered. 

Granted that the parasite disperses at the rate of one mile 
in each week of activity, and that it is able to adapt its life 
and habits to the climate and conditions in America, the chances 
are, that, instead of looking for it in the immediate vicinity 
of the points of colonization, it is quite as likely to be found 
almost anywhere in the infested area within 25 miles of Boston. 
If it is thus generally distributed, very large numbers in the 
ag-gregate may exist, and it may increase at a rate as rapid as 
that of Monodontomerus, and at the same time escape detection 
until the summer of 1911 or 1912.^ 

This is not only possible, but probable, unless a number of 
careful observers assist in the recovery of the parasite next sea- 
son; and if any one should chance, at any time during the 
summer, to discover parasite cocoon masses similar to those 
fig-ured, and will collect them and forward them in a small box 
to the gypsy moth laboratory, Melrose Highlands, Mass., the 
service will be greatly appreciated. There are a great many 
native parasites of native caterpillars which are very similar 
and in some instances indistinguishable from those of the 
Glyptapanteles, but none of these have ever been recorded as 
attacking the gypsy moth. 

The one great fear in conne<3tion with the introduction of this 
most important parasite is that it will not find all of the natural 
conditions necessary for its continued existence in Massachu- 
setts. Its life during the fall and its whereabouts during the 
winter are equally a mystery ; and even the Japanese entomolo- 
gists, w^ho are the keenest of observers, resident in a country 
where it is a relatively common insect, are wholly unable to sug- 
gest a reasonable solution. It has been recorded upon a variety 



1 The occurrence of the cocoons in the near vicinity of the colony sites immediately following 
the liberation is most natural, and in perfect harmony with the wide dispersion. The female 
parasites as soon as they emerge are ready to deposit a small part of the eggs which they will 
eventually deposit if they live and have opportunity. After the deposition of this part, it is 
necessary for them to wait an appreciable time before they are ready to deposit any more. 





Fi<i. \». — lUeplKiripa sriiti'l/dta : inii)ortaut European par- 
asite of gypsy moth caterpillar, adult, enlarged. 



Flii. II. — lilepliaripa : lull grown 
larva from gypsy moth pupa, 
enlarged about six times. 



fill 



Fit;. 1'2. — niepharipa: puparia, slightly enlarged. 



GYPSY AND BROWN-TAIL MOTHS. 33 

of other caterpillars in Europe, but these records are known to 
be erroneous in part, and all are likely to be so. As stated just 
above, there are numerous other species which are easily con- 
fused with it, but none of them appear to attack the gypsy moth ; 
and, vice versa, absolute proof that the Glyptapanteles of the 
gypsy ever attacks any other host is at present lacking. 

It is one of the most important parasites, perhaps the most im- 
portant, and fills a gap in the sequence which it will be exceed- 
ingly hard to fill should it fail to become established. If it 
demonstrates its ability to live in America, it is safe to say that 
the greatest and most-feared of all of the obstacles to success 
will prove to be nonexistent. 

Blepharipa sciitellata. 

Blepharipa belongs to a difierent order of insects, the Dip- 
tera, which consists of the true flies, while the egg parasites and 
Glyptapanteles belong to the order Ilymenoptera, and are more 
nearly related to the bees and wasps. The latter are character- 
ized by four membranous wings, while Blepharipa has but two 
wings, and is the first of the several ])arasites which will be 
mentioned Avhich belongs to the family Tachinida? of order Dip- 
tera. The Dipterous parasites of the gypsy moth and of the 
broAvn-tail moth are all members of this family, and wnll fre- 
quently be referred to as the Tachinid parasites, in contradis- 
tinction to the Hymenopterous parasites. 

The Tachinid parasites, as a class, differ markedly in their 
manner of life from the Hymenopterous, but not all of them to 
quite the extent of the one under consideration (Fig. 10). It 
attacks the gypsy moth during several of the caterpillar stages, 
but instead of depositing its eggs within the body of the host, 
they are deposited upon leaves of trees infested by the cater- 
pillars. They are exceedingly minute, black and shining, and 
one fly can lay many thousands. When eaten by a caterpillar 
big enough not to crush them in the ]irocess they hatch almost 
immediately into tiny maggots, which pierce the walls of the 
alimentary canal and lodge themselves in the fatty tissue of the 
caterpillar's body. They grow slowly, and invariably, if para- 
sitism is successful, the caterpillar pujiates. When the moth 
would have been about ready to issue, had the pupa been healthy. 



34 IMPORTED PARASITES. 

the Blepharipa maggot (Fig. 11) reaches maturity and works 
its way out of the now empty shell. It then drops to the earth 
and burrowing its way several inches below the surface, trans- 
forms to a puparium (Fig. 12), an oval, dark body, formed of 
the hardened skin of the larva, and containing the true pupa. 
This pupa remains unchanged during the winter, and produces 
the perfect fly in the late spring following. 

Blepharipa is a very important parasite of the gypsy moth 
in Europe, and in western Europe appears to be very much more 
destructive than does the Glyptapanteles. It is represented in 
Japan by another very similar species (Crossoeosniin sp.), the 
adults of which have not yet been reared at the laboratory. 

The difficulties which have stood in the way of the successful 
introduction of this parasite into America have been different 
from any that have hindered the M^ork with any other species. 
Importation of the full-grown caterpillars or freshly formed 
pupse of the gypsy moth resulted in 1905 in securing a con- 
siderable number, several hundred at least, of the hibernating 
puparia, but not a single fly issued the following year. The 
cause was not obvious at the time, but was later determined to 
be due to the drying up of the pupsB within the puparium. 
Death did not immediately ensue, but eventually the fly would 
die when it was nearly ready to issue. A great many different 
methods of hibernating these puparia have been attempted, and 
with very variable but uniformly unsatisfactory results. Dur- 
ing the winter of 1907-08 the puparia were kept in moist earth, 
and a 10 per cent, emergence from a total of 5,000 was secured. 
The year before it was less, hardly equalling 3 per cent., and 
the year following much less, hardly amounting to 1 per cent. 
These tremendous losses were unexplained until the summer of 
1909, when large numbers of gypsy caterpillars were received 
in a living condition from Hyeres, France, through the mag- 
nificent efforts of M. Rene Oberthiir of Rennes, and as a direct 
result of Dr. Howard's trip to Europe that year. (Plate II.) 
They came in better shape, in many respects, than any other 
similar lot of material ever received, having been shipped in 
cold storage on fast transatlantic liners. 

For the first time since the inception of the work, large 
numbers of living pup?e containing the immature maggots of 



GYPSY AND BROWN-TAIL MOTHS. 35 

the parasites were received at the laboratory, and it was possible 
to allow the formation of the puparia under natural conditions 
in the earth. Each preceding year the maggots had reached 
their maturity, and formed, or attempted to form, puparia in 
the boxes in transit. They were often injured, and the puparia 
were always thoroughly dried when received. 

A very large number of the parasites were secured in this 
manner (25,000, as a conservative estimate), and several thou- 
sands of the maggots were allowed to enter the earth in the open 
in forests infested by the gypsy moth. Examination has demon- 
strated the fact that these maggots pupated in a perfectly natural 
manner, and the condition of the pupse at the present time is 
far and away more satisfactory than it has ever been before at 
this season of the year. It is almost impossible to conceive of 
conditions which will prevent the emergence of these flies in 
large numbers in the open the coming spring. 

The remainder of the maggots were allowed to go into the 
earth in a variety of containers, principally sunken wire screen 
cages in the laboratory grounds. They, as well as those in the 
open, are in the best of condition, and it will be a severe dis- 
appointment if a large number of the flies are not reared and 
colonized, as a result. 

The parasite was colonized as adults in small numbers and 
under satisfactory conditions in the spring of 1007, and in 
somewhat larger numbers in 1908. No results have been secured 
to date, nor are immediate results expected from these early 
colonies. The fly is very strong, and it is to be expected that 
it will fly for long distances during the considerable period of 
its activity in the spring. Unlike Glyptapanteles, Schedius, 
etc., it is not ready to deposit its eggs for something like three 
weeks after it issues in the spring, and during this time it is 
likely to traverse considerable distances. It is a source of great 
regret that it has not been liberated in large numbers much 
earlier in the course of the work; but it was not until after 
numerous experiments had been made, through which it was 
hoped to remedy the obvious defects in methods of importation 
and handling, and all modifications proven to be useless, that 
the extraordinary methods of last season were adopted. There 
is not a single other one amongst the numerous species of 



36 IMPORTED PARASITES. 

Tachinid parasites, except the Japanese Crossocosmia, which 
is nearly so difficult to handle. 

Multiplication of this parasite in the open, under favorable 
conditions, which it is believed the present season offers, ought 
to be exceedingly rapid. As in so many other instances, the 
year to come is crucial, and will likely demonstrate the ability 
of this species to become Americanized. 

Success with Blepharipa, and its rapid acclimatization in 
America, is looked for more especially on account of the close 
correlation which exists between the parasite and host. Like 
Anastatus, this correlation is perfect, and the parasite is able 
to continue its existence from year's end to year's end, inde- 
jDendent of any other insect. This, in connection with its ex- 
traordinary powers of multiplication, make it one of the most 
promising of the parasites studied at the laboratory, and perhaps 
the most promising of all. 

Compsilura concin nata. 

Only a very few of the introduced parasites are equally im- 
portant as enemies of both the gypsy moth and the brown-tail 
moth, although a number of them are known to attack both to a 
varying degree. One of the few which are important enemies 
of both is Compsilura, a Tachinid fly like Blepharipa, but dif- 
fering from that species in a great many important particulars. 
Instead of depositing eggs on the foliage, to be eaten by the cat- 
erpillars, the eggs hatch in the body of the parent female, and 
the minute maggots are thrust beneath the skin of the host after 
a fashion somewhat comparalile to the manner in which Glypta- 
panteles deposits its eggs in the active caterpillars. Usually 
only one parasite develops in one host. 

The maggots begin to feed at once, and in a very short time 
(less than two weeks in the summer) are full fed. and have 
caused the death of the host caterpillar. They then work their 
way outside of its body, drop to the earth and transform to pu- 
paria, from which shortly after the adult flies issue. 

Since the parasite has been secured in both brown-tail and 
gypsy moth parasite importations, the numbers which have been 
received and liberated have been considerable. The first col- 
onies were planted in 1906, and in each year since, but particu- 



GYPSY AND BROWN-TAIL MOTHS. 37 

larly in 1909, new colonies have been located in various parts 
of eastern Massachusetts. There is no better method for the 
recovery of the parasite from the field than the collection of 
gypsy or brown-tail caterjnllars and their confinement in cages, 
where they can be fed, and where the parasite can be secured 
in case it is present and emerges. This is a tedious process, in- 
volves a large amount of labor, and in the case of the brown-tail 
caterpillars entails much discomfort in its execution ; and at- 
tempts to determine the distribution of the parasite in the field 
have not been as thorough as it is intended that they shall be 
in 1910. Nevertheless, it was recovered from the field upon 
several occasions in the course of the summer of 1909, and there 
seems not to be any question that it is thoroughly established 
and widely distributed in Massachusetts at the present time. 
Its rate of increase, if the widespread distribution is taken into 
account, is wholly satisfactory, and, as indicated by the field 
collections, is as great as of Calosoma and perhaps as of Mono- 
dontomerus. It must be remembered, in this connection, that 
there is no simple means of determining its distribution, as is 
the case with both of the other species mentioned ; and further- 
more, that, although it was liberated in 1906, it was not until 
so late in the season as to make a generation upon the gypsy 
or brown-tail caterpillars improbable during that year. It was 
not until 1907 that it can be considered as having had its first 
good opportunity for reproduction in America, and the fact 
that it was found to be generally distributed the third season 
in the field is indicative of a particularly satisfactory progress. 
It is not a very important parasite of either the gypsy or the 
brown-tail moth in Europe. It has never been received from 
Japan, and it is not expected that it will become of more than 
relatively minor importance in either connection here, as com- 
pared with Blepharipa and Glyptapanteles. At the same time, 
it has points in its favor not possessed by any other parasite, 
notably, its ability to pass one generation upon the brown-tail 
caterpillars and another immediately after upon those of the 
gypsy ; and it is likely to gain in effectiveness, in this manner, 
a part of what it loses through its probable inability to com- 
plete its seasonal cycle without the assistance of an alternate 
native host. It is verv democratic in its choice of hosts, and 



3S IMPORTED PARASITES. 

has been reared in the hiboratory from a considerable variety 
of native caterpillars, including snch common species as the 
fall -web worm and the Datana caterpillars, which are frequently 
so abundant upon various trees and shrubs in the fall. 

Tachina larvarinn and Tricliolyga grandis. 

These two species of Tachinid parasites are exceedingly sim- 
ilar in many respects and are so difficult to separate in their vari- 
ous stages as to have been confused under the name of Tachina 
larvarum during the first three years of the work. On this ac- 
count, considerable confusion exists concernine- the earlv history 
of both in America. 

Tachina (Fig. 13), like Compsilura, is a parasite of both the 
brown-tail and the gypsy caterpillars, while Tricholyga is prin- 
cipally confined to the last-mentioned in its host relations. Both 
deposit large flattened eggs upon the body of the larger cater- 
pillars, and the minute maggots hatching from these eggs bur- 
roAv into the body of their host, where they grow rapidly. The 
larva of Tachina usually leaves its host and completes its trans- 
formations upon or just beneath the surface of the earth. That 
of Tricholyga may do this, or it may remain attached to the host 
and never drop to the ground at all. Both species usually kill 
the host caterpillars before pupation, but not always. 

Several thousands of one or both species were liberated in vari- 
ous localities in 1906 and 1907. Both were colonized in small 
numbers in 1908, and in very large numbers in 1909. It was 
not known that either species had established itself until late in 
the summer of 1909, when Tricholyga was recovered from the 
field as a parasite of the gypsy moth from the near vicinity of a 
very small and unsatisfactory colony of the year before. There 
seems to be every reason to believe that it has succeeded thor- 
oughly in establishing itself, and that it is a mere matter of 
time until it shall become so common as to be of active assist- 
ance in the control of the gypsy moth. 

The Tachina, strangely enough, is scarcely distinguishable as 
an adult, or in any other way than by its behavior as a gypsy 
moth parasite, from a native American species which has upon 
rare occasions been reared as a parasite of the gypsy moth. The 
native species is probably the one which deposits its conspicuous 




Fig. 18. — TdchiiKi liirniriiiii : P>iir0|ii';ii) ]i;ir;isitt' of .u'vpsy and 
l)rci\vii-tail iiiotli ciilcrpillai's, adult, eulargi'd. 




Flu. U. — cii,ilri:irii,rijns: Kuropoaii | lara site of gypsy 
luotli iiuii:l>, adult, greatly euUli-ged. 



GYPSY AND BROWN-TAIL MOTHS. 39 

white eggs upon the larger caterpillars of the gypsy moth in 
certain localities each year so abundantly as periodically to at- 
tract attention : but the identity of these eggs cannot be deter- 
mined, since the maggots which hatch from them rarely go 
through to maturity. The reasons for this extraordinary state 
of affairs have not been accurately determined, but in some way 
the caterpillars of the introduced insect are not fitted to the 
needs of the maggots of the native parasite. 

It has been stated that the native species occasionally com- 
pletes its gTOwth and transformations upon the gypsy moth, and, 
since it is impracticable to separate the adults with certainty, 
there will be no way of following the progress of the imported 
species in America until it shall become a great deal more com- 
mon than the native in this connection. It is unquestionably 
too soon to look for such conditions at the present time, but it 
is rather confidently expected that within a few years Tachina 
larvarum will become an efficient link in the sequence of para- 
sites which it is hoped to establish. 

There is a species of Tachina in Japan, indistinguishable in 
habit from the European species, and apparently rather more 
effective. The adults are different, however, and quite easily 
distinguished from either the American or the European. A 
small number have been liberated, and it is possible that they 
will be heard from in the future. It is also expected that a 
larger number will be imported and liberated the coming sea- 
son, so that, if the European species for any reason should fail 
to come up to expectations, the position which it might other- 
wise occu])y will not remain vacant. 

Zygohothria r/ilva and Carcdia gnava. 
Through the efforts of ]\I. Rene Oberthiir of Rennes, very 
large shipments of gypsy caterpillars and pupae were received 
from France in 1009 in much better condition than any con- 
siderable shipments ever received before. Largely because of 
the satisfactory condition of the material on receipt, and partly 
because the two parasites named above are more common in 
the Mediterranean region than in northern or central Europe, 
several thousands of each were imported and colonized under 
the happy circumstances which accompanied nearly all of the 



40 IMPORTED PARASITES. 

colonizations in 1909. Both had been received before, and 
both had been colonized, but in insignificant quantities and 
nndei- conditions which left mnch to be desired. It is consid- 
ered, therefore, that the first satisfactory and possibly the first 
effective colonization of these jDarasites was accomplished last 
year. 

Both are Tachinids, and similar in many respects to Tachina, 
Compsilnra, etc., bnt differ from all others and from each other 
in many minor particnlars in their life and habits. In relative 
importance, as determined by the frequency of their occurrence 
abroad, they are about equal in rank, and compare favorably in 
France with any other Tachinid parasites except Blepharipa. 

It is ho])ed that both will establish themselves in America, 
but their ability to do so remains to be proven, and it is hardly 
to be expected that either will be recovered before 1911 or 1912, 
unless some of the earlier and relatively very unsatisfactory 
colonizations should have resulted more favorably than is now 
believed to l)e the case. 

Parasites of tup: Pupa. 
Theronia sp. 

There are at least 10 species of large, wasp-like parasites 
which attack the freshly formed pupa? of the gypsy moth, and 
the caterpillars just previous to their transformation, and which 
belong to the genera Pimpla and Theronia. All of them are 
very general in their host relations, and will attack the pupa^ of 
almost any moth which they encounter under the proper con- 
ditions ; but none of them, with the exception of the several 
varieties or species of the genus Theronia, have ever occurred 
so abundantly in any lots of imported gypsy pu]X"e as to justify 
a position among the important parasites of the gypsy moth. 
As parasites of the brown-tail, the several species of Pimpla are 
quite effective both in Europe and America ; and Theronia is 
also a broAvn-tail parasite, but of relatively less importance. 

There are three species or varieties of Theronia, inhabiting 
respectively Europe, Japan and America, and all are very sim- 
ilar in appearance and habits. The American species, Theronia 
fulvescens, appears to have reached its maximum effectiveness 





Fig. 1."). — Cbalcis: full-growu 
larv;i from gypsy moth 
pupa, 



rreatlv enlarged. 



Fig. 16. — Chalcis: pupa 
from gypsy moth pupa, 
greatly enlarged. 




Fiii. 17. — Chalcis: gypsy moth pup:v, showing exit liolo of 
the parasite, enlarged. 



GYPSY AND BROWN-TAIL MOTHS. 41 

in America, and without exceeding in this respect the Japanese 
or the European species in their respective countries. A few 
of the European Tlieronia atalantce have been liberated in 
America, but nothing more is expected of it than of Tlieronia 
fulvescens; and, as a matter of fact, it will be difficult to deter- 
mine whether it is established or not, owing to the very close 
resemblance between the two. 

Theronia will help a little in the ultimate control of the gypsy 
moth in America, but it is not to be expected that it will ever 
become of greater efficiency than it is at present. It is gen- 
erally distributed throughout the infested area. 

CJialcis flavipes. 

One of the most effective parasites of the tussock moth in cer- 
tain more southern localities is a native species of Chalcis (Fig. 
14) which is not very common in any connection in New Eng- 
land. If, as is altogether probable, the gypsy moth extends its 
southern distribution into the range of Chalcis as a common 
parasite, it is not at all unlikely that it will be attacked by it. 

In southern Europe and in Japan are other species of Chalcis 
similar to the native species in appearance and habits, and some- 
times quite effective parasites of the pupae of the gypsy moth. 
They are always solitary, and notwithstanding that there is sub- 
stance enough in an average gypsy pupa to nourish several in- 
dividuals, there is no record of more than one ever emerging 
from one host. The eggs are deposited in the freshly formed 
pupa, and apparently the individual host is open to attack for 
a period of only about three days in the course of its life. The 
larva (Fig. 15) feeds upon as much of the contents of the pupal 
shell as it desires, and then transforms to a pupa (Fig. 16). 
The adult emerges later through a large, ragged hole gnawed 
through the pupal shell. (Fig. 17.) 

The European species, Chalris flavipes, was imported in some 
numbers in 1905, but at that time was supposed to be an enemy 
of the Tachinids which were primary parasites of the moth, and 
none were liberated. In 1000 and 1007 none were received, 
and no opportunity arose to investigate the relations existing 
between the moth and the parasite. It was not known that it 
was so closely confined in its geographical distribution at that 



42 IMPORTED PARASITES. 

time, and since no gypsv moth pupae were received in good con- 
dition from any of the Italian or French collectors, its impor- 
tance was not recognized. 

In 1908, for the first time since 1905, a quantity of gypsv 
moth pupffi was received from Italy, through the courtesy of 
Professor Leonard! of the School of Agriculture, Portici, and 
from them quite large numbers of the parasite were reared. At 
first, with the recorded secondary parasitism of the species in 
mind, considerable care was exercised to prevent the escape of 
any of the specimens until their true relation to the gypsy moth 
should be established. At last, after a rather tedious series of 
microscopic studies, supplemented by dissections of the para- 
sitized pupse, it was definitely demonstrated that the Chalcis 
which issued from the Tachinid puparia were different from 
those which came from pupa direct ; in other words, there were 
several species of the genus Chalcis, closely resembling each 
other in their appearance, but differing entirely in their habits. 
One of them was, beyond further dispute, a primary parasite 
of the gypsy moth, and was immediately liberated in the field, 
while the others were destroyed as fast as secured. 

In 1909 a few more were received in importations of gypsy 
pupa? from Italy and France, and another small colony was 
established. It is known definitely that reproduction in the field 
followed immediately after, but there is insufficient assurance 
that the species is acclimatized in America, since it has not been 
recovered a full year after its colonization. If it disperses as 
rapidly as do most of the parasites, it will be some years before 
it is again recovered as the result of the last summer's coloniza- 
tion. During this period it is hoped that additional importa- 
tions will make it possible to establish larger and stronger 
colonies of what, if it can exist here, is very likely to become 
a parasite of some importance. 

In both 1908 and 1909 Chalcis flavipes was carried through 
all of its transformations in gypsy moth pup?e in the laboratory ; 
and, but for the fact that a supply of host pupse cannot be pro- 
vided except during a very limited season each year, it would 
be practicable to institute propagation work similar to that 
which has been so successful with Schedius and Calosoma. Only 
about one month is required for the complete life cycle from 




Fig. 1.-^, — .\ronodonl.oineriis ncrcus : European iiarasitc of jrypsy aud 
brown-tail moth iniiiu', aihilt female, greatly eulargecL 



GYPSY AND BROWN-TAIL MOTHS. 43 

egg to adult. It is very probable that the adults live for a loug 
time, like those of Monodontomerus, and they may hibernate. 

Monodontomerus aereus. 

The females (Fig. 18) deposit their eggs (Fig. 19) in the 
freshly formed pup£e of the gypsy moth and of the brown-tail 
moth, several in each individual host. The larvse (Fig. 20) feed 
and subsequently undergo all of their transformations within 
the pupal shell, of which they usually consume the entire con- 
tents. (Fig. 21.) A little later than the time when the moth 
would have issued, had the parasitized pupa remained healthy, 
the Monodontomerus adults escape through a small hole in the 
dried pupal shell. (Fig. 22.) From 5 or 6 to 15 or 20 come 
from each. The males die soon after, but the females live all 
winter, and are not able to deposit eggs for another generation 
until the summer following. When cold weather approaches 
they seek the shelter afforded by the hibernating webs of the 
brown-tail caterpillars, and remain well protected in the silken 
chambers during the winter. They come forth in the spring as 
soon as the weather becomes warm enough to stir them into 
activity, and in the course of the period intervening between 
their resumption of activity and the pupation of the brown-tail 
and gypsy, they develop their eggs and are ready for the attack. 

A considerable number of the adults of this parasite, all, with- 
out exception, fertilized females, issued from the large number 
of brown-tail hibernating nests which were imported from vari- 
ous European countries during the winter of 1005-06. A part 
were given their freedom in the spring, but as it was soon found 
that the species were not in any way an enemy of the hibernating 
brown-tail caterpillars, and as their parasitism of the pupse of 
the gypsy moth and brown-tail moth was not indicated at that 
time, their liberation was discontinued. In 1906 and 1907 
small numbers were reared from imported cocoon masses of 
brown-tail, but under conditions which told nothing concerning 
their host relations. Upon several occasions small numbers have 
been reared from the puparia of Tachinid parasites of the gypsy 
moth, and it was feared that the parasite might prove to be 
habitually secondary, instead of primary. 

Like Chalcis, Monodontomerus is more common in southern 



44 IMPORTED PARASITES. 

Europe, and the small quantities of gypsy and brown-tail pnpse 
which were received in 1900 and 1007 from those countries 
where it was most abundant made any attempts to investigate 
its life and habits difficult of execution. The females would 
never evince any interest in gypsy or brown-tail pupae in the 
laboratory, and all of the many reproduction experiments which 
were made failed utterly. This was subsequently found to be 
due to the fact that their eggs were undeveloped, and it was not 
until a careful series of microscopic dissections were made that 
this insuperable obstacle to success was discovered. 

In 1908 the same importation of gypsy moth pupae from Italy 
which served to establish the host relations of Chalcis served 
also to establish the primary character of the parasitism by 
Monodontomerus. It was reared from the gypsy moth pupae 
direct, and in such numbers as to indicate that it was a parasite 
of considerable importance ; and great regret was felt that it 
had not been liberated in larger numbers upon the first oppor- 
tunity. It was hardly considered probable at that time that 
the small number liberated during the early spring of 1906 
would succeed in establishing themselves. 

In the winter of 1908-09, large numbers of the hibernating 
nests of brown-tail were collected from various localities, as they 
had been each winter since the beginning of the Avork, and from 
these nests issued a very few hibernating females of Monodon- 
tomerus, exactly as they had previously issued from nests simi- 
larly collected in Europe. The circumstance was as unexpected 
as it was gratifying, and indicated that the parasite had mul- 
tiplied rapidly in the field, because similar collections of even 
larger quantities of brown-tail nests had not produced the para- 
site the year before. Steps were immediately taken to determine 
the distribution of the parasite, and the surprise was greater 
when it was discovered to be sparingly but generally dis- 
tributed over an area of approximately 500 square miles, ex- 
tending in nearly every direction, but farthest to the west, from 
the original point of liberation. 

In the summer of 1909, when the proper season had arrived, 
it was recovered for the first time as a parasite of the gypsy moth 
in the field. Although it was not very common, it was found to 
be generally distributed, exactly as indicated by the collections 



Fig. 19.— Mouodontoni- 
orus: egg, greatly en- 
larsred. 




Fi<;. '20. — Monodoiitoiiioriis: 
larva I'roui ?;> psy inotli 
impa, ,^i'eatl>' ciilarijcd. 




Fi<;. '21. — Monodontonierus: 
inii>a from gyi>sy moth 
liupa, greatly enlarged. 




Fii;. •.'■_'. — .MoiiodonliiiiuTiis: 
gypsy moth |iupa, showing 
exit hole li't'i by [larasite, 
greatly enlarged. 



GYPSY AND BROWN-TAIL MOTHS. 45 

from brown-tail iiests the winter before. The percentage of the 
gjpsy pnpffi destroyed was negligible ; but the fact remained that 
the j)arasite was on the increase, since exactly the same methods 
employed in previous years had produced no such results. 

Great curiosity was felt as to the jDrobable character of the 
results of winter work in the recovery of the hibernating females 
in the winter nests of brown-tails in the fall of 1909, as this 
would provide the first opportunity to determine the rate of an- 
nual increase and of dispersion. The work was begun as soon 
as practicable, and, while the results are not yet complete, they 
are more favorable than was at any time anticipated. In brief, 
the insect is now known to be distributed over an area of ap- 
proximately 3,000 square miles. Every portion of the Com- 
monwealth north and east of Boston to the New Hampshire line, 
and as far west and southwest as Leominster, Shirley and Dover, 
is included in this territory. It is certain to be in New Hamp- 
shire, but to date none have been received from that State, and 
the western limits of its distribution have not been determined. 

Everywhere in the area which was not included in its known 
distribution last year it is about as common as it was in any 
place the winter before. Within the limits of the territory in 
which it was known to occur a year ago it has increased at least 
twenty-five-fold during the year. At this rate, if unchecked, 
it would be abundant enough to destroy all of the gypsy and 
broA\m-tail pupse in three years more. Since this, for various 
reasons, is highly improbable, it is likely that it will reach its 
maximum effectiveness within the centrally infested areas by 
that time. Judging from the best which it is known to do 
abroad, this will be the destruction of something like one-fourth 
of the gypsy and brown-tail pupa\ It is not al^road, and cannot 
be expected to become in America a parasite of as great import- 
ance as Glyptapanteles or Blepharipa, provided these species 
become as thoroughly acclimatized ; ])ut it promises to become 
a very valuable parasite, occupying, as it does, a position in the 
sequence of ]>arasites which would otherwise be vacant except 
for the ineffective Theronia or the less certainly efficient 
Chalcis. 



46 IMPORTED PARASITES. 

PROGRESS OF THE PARASITES IN MASSACHUSETTS. 

Before it is possible accurately to predict the progress of an 
insect in a new country, it is necessary to know, iirst, the average 
rate of increase under the new conditions; and, second, the 
average rate of dispersion. ISTeither may be determined other- 
wise than by actual observation in the field. In the countries 
to which the insect in question is native, the rate of increase 
is balanced more or less perfectly, and, although it always fluc- 
tuates somewhat in relative abundance from one year to another, 
there is no permanent gain or loss. The dispersion of an insect 
in a country where it is native and generally distributed is im- 
possible of determination ; the progeny of any given parent or 
of the parents within a given area are at once confused with 
the progeny of parents in any part of the surrounding country 
into which they may chance to spread. 

The introduction of an insect into a new country is usually 
followed by a steady increase, which is sustained until it has 
established a balance with the native insects ; or by a steady 
decrease, which results in its final extinction. 

There are a few instances on record in which the progress of 
an introduced insect has followed neither path. The Chinese 
lady-bird (Chilchonis similis) was introduced into Georgia in 
1902 as an enemy of the San Jose scale, and for one year in- 
creased at a very rapid rate, and spread over a considerable 
territory from the point where it was liberated. It passed the 
first winter successfully, and for a time bade fair to become 
so numerous as to be of valuable assistance in the fight against 
this scale; but in 1904 its numbers showed a decided decrease, 
and at the present time it appears not to be at all common. The 
causes for this are very obscure, and no satisfactory explanation 
has ever been advanced. 

The history of the Oriental moth in Boston, where a few 
years ago it appeared to have become firmly established, is an- 
other case in point. At the present time it is far from common, 
and it is very possible that eventually it will become extinct. 

It will never he known how many insects have been introduced 
into America from abroad, but the number is undoubtedlv far 



GYPSY AND BROWN-TAIL MOTHS. 47 

in excess of those which have become temporarily or permanently 
abundant enough to attract attention. 

It has never been expected that all of the parasites and 
predatory enemies of the gypsy and brown-tail moths which have 
been introduced into Massachusetts would continue to exist here. 
It has always been expected that certain of them would do so, 
and the only cause for uneasiness as to the ultimate success of 
the work has been the fear that not enough different kinds of 
parasites could be secured for colonization, or, if colonized, that 
not enough to form a natural and effective parasitic sequence 
would be able to continue to exist. At the present time there is 
no parasite of the gypsy moth, and only one or more of the 
brown-tail, of which it can be said that the progress is unsatis- 
factory. Just what the progress is, or whether there is any 
actual progress, is not known in every case ; but, as will be 
shown, it may be very satisfactory, and at the same time in- 
conspicuous. 

In the beginning it was expected that increase, if it followed 
colonization, would be rapid ; but it was not thought that many 
of the several species would be likely to fly very far from the 
point of liberation until they had increased for several genera- 
tions. Had these expectations been fulfilled, practical results 
would have been apparent, locally, within three or four years. 

So far as it is possible now to state, the rate of multiplication 
has generally been gratifyingly rapid ; but it has been accom- 
panied by a rate of dispersion so much greater than was ex- 
pected as to materially change the aspect of the situation. It 
is now evident that, if success follows the work of parasite in- 
troduction, the parasites will become practically effective over 
a considerable portion of the infested area, and possibly through- 
out its whole extent, at about the same time. 

In order better to illustrate this point, a theoretical example 
may be taken of an insect introduced into a new country, Avhere 
it increases at the rate of twenty-five-fold annually, and spreads 
from the point of liberation at the rate of about 10 miles an- 
nually. It is supposed that 1,000 individuals are liberated in 
a territory where they can be spread in every direction, and 
where their increase will be unhampered for a period of six 
years. 



48 IMPORTED PARASITES. 

Lest any one shonld think that the figures and diagrams as 
given are fanciful, and the result of pure speculation, it is well 
to state in the beginning that they represent, as accurately as the 
available information will permit, the progress of Monodon- 
tomerus in the field. The territory covered is not quite as ex- 
tensive as indicated by the first diagram, owing to the fact that 
a large part of it is, or would be, open sea; but the recovery 
of the parasite from the field indicates that it has spread at 
a rate of approximately 10 miles annually to the west and north, 
and that its increase, which was about twenty-five-fold during 
the summer of 1909, has been maintained at that rate since its 
liberation. It is not known exactly how many of the parasites 
were liberated originally, the notes which were made at that 
time apparently having been lost. Tentatively, the figures are 
set at 1,000. 

The rate of dispersion, provided it was dependent upon the 
activities of the insect, and not upon chance or accidental agen- 
cies, would be about as rapid during the first year from a colony 
of 1,000 as though it were very abundant. The territory covered 
by the insect during the six years would therefore be represented 
by a series of six concentric circles, the smallest of which would 
have a radius of 10 miles, and each of the others of multiples 
of 10 u}^ to 60. The area given in acres, and for convenience 
sake in round numbers, over which the insect would range each 
year from the first to the sixth, respectively, would be as indi- 
cated in Diagram I. 

Increase numerically, at the rate of twenty-five-fold annually, 
Avould be at a very much more rapid rate, and is indicated by 
the several squares in Diagram II. It would be impossible to 
illustrate this increase diagrammatically for the entire six years 
without the use of a large chart, because the square which would 
indicate the number of the insects which would result from the 
sixth year's increase would have sides between 3 and 4 feet long. 
The figures for six years would be : — 

1906, 1,000 

1907 25,000 

1908, 625,000 

1909 15,625,000 

1910 390,625,000 

1911 9,725,625,000 




DiAtiKAM I.— Illustrating the dispersiou of an introduced insect for six years, at the rate 
of approximately ten miles per year. 



n 




DiAijKAM II. — Illustrating the uunierical iucrease of an iutroduced iusecl for tour 
years, at the rate of tweuty-flve-fold each year. 




1906. 

1 individual tu -'oO 
acres. 



1907. 

5 individuals to 200 
acres. 



1908. 

fi9 individuals to 200 
acres. 






1909. 

!)Tt; individuals t<j 200 
acres. 



1910. 

l.i,»;2.i individuals to 2(l0 
acres. 



1911. 

2TO,].iO individuals to 200 
acres. 



Diagram III. — IlUistratinir the increase in avc'rairc al)undance of an intro<luced insect 
which disperses as indicated liy Diagram I. and iTicreases at the rate indicated by 
Diasram II. 



GYPSY AND BROWN-TAIL MOTHS. 49 

Increase in the average abundance of the insect from year to 
year over the area included in its range wouh:l be comparatively 
slow at first, but would later become much more rapid, on ac- 
count of the rate of increase being so much greater than that 
of dispersion. An attempt has been made to illustrate it in 
Diagram III., in which each square represents an area of 200 
acres. The number of the insects (Monodontomerus in this 
instance) which are to be found within a territory of this extent 
is indicated by the black dots. It becomes impossible to crowd 
a sufficiently large number into the limited space available to 
indicate accurately the proportionate abundance which will re- 
sult in 1010 and 1911, if the rate of increase continues without 
diminution. 

The parasites are generally very inconspicuous, and when not 
common are difficult to find. Monodontomerus, as has been 
stated, is particularly easy to find, owing to its hibernating 
habits, and it is partly on this account that so much is known of 
its progress. The only methods which may be employed for the 
recovery of the most of them is the collection of a quantity of the 
caterpillars or pupse of the gypsy moth, which are confined in 
the proper form of cage in the laboratory until the parasites issue 
from the affected individuals after destroying them. To collect 
all of the gypsy caterpillars or pupa over a territory as large as 
1 acre is out of the question when the insect is abundant. It is 
therefore impracticable to follow systematically the progress of 
an insect which would be so uncommon as to be represented by 
only a single individual in an area of this extent. It is small 
wonder that no trace of certain of the parasites which have been 
liberated has been found during the first few years following. 

It was not until the summer of 1909, the fourth after its estab- 
lishment, that Monodontomerus was first recovered as a parasite 
of the gypsy moth in the field ; and if a parasite can increase 
at such a rate and remain unnoticed for three years, there is good 
foundation for hoping that other species may be doing as well. 

The Calosoma beetles, which were also liberated for the first 
time in 1906, in time to attack the gypsy moth caterpillars that 
year, have ever since increased at a less rapid but at the same 
time a very satisfactory rate. Their rate of dispersion is also 
much less, and probably does not exceed a mile or two per year. 



50 IMPORTED PARASITES. 

It will be several years before they will reach the abundance 
at present held by Monodontomeriis. 

These two insects, Monodontomeriis and Calosoma/ were the 
only enemies of the gypsy moth which were liberated in 1906 
in time to attack the gypsy caterpillars that year. A number 
of other parasites were given their freedom during the late sum- 
mer or fall, after the caterpillar season was nearly or quite over, 
and the first opportunity which they had to attack the gypsy 
or the brown-tail caterpillars was in the year following. Of 
these parasites, one, Compsilura, has been recovered in the past 
summer in numbers in every way as large as could be expected, 
if its rate of dispersion is as rapid as that of Monodontomerus. 
A greater rapidity of dispersion and multiplication, sustained 
over a period of years, has not been expected of any of the in- 
troduced insects. 

WHEN WILL THE PARASITES BECOME EFFECTIVE? 

This question, which has been asked so frequently, has always 
been avoided, especially since it became apparent that the dis- 
persion of the parasites was going on at an unexpectedly rapid 
rate, making their recovery difficult except in the immediate 
vicinity of the colony and immediately after colonization. It 
was obviously impossible, under such circumstances, to deter- 
mine what their actual progress was ; and the only results which 
were apparent to those in charge of the work were so technical 
in their nature as to be of little significance to any one not 
thoroughly familiar with entomology. 

During the past few months considerable data have been accu- 
mulated, uniformly satisfactory in character, which bears upon 
the rate of dispersion or of multiplication of certain of the para- 
sites. It is very insufficient, but if it is reliable, and if the 
progress of the first among the parasites and predators to be 
liberated may be taken as a criterion of what is to be expected 
of the others, it is possible to make a fair estimate of the length 
of time required for the parasites to become sufficiently abun- 
dant and so generally distributed as to bring about an effective 
natural control of the gypsy moth. The different species differ 

' Calosoma inquisitor, another predaceous beetle, was also liberated in 1936, but in rather 
small and unsatisfactory numbers. It haa not been recovered. 



GYPSY AND BROWN-TAIL MOTHS. 



51 



in so many particulars, however, as to make sncli an estimate 
at the i^resent time largely speculative. 

In Table 4 are listed all of the parasites of the gypsy moth 
which have been liberated in America under conditions in every 
way satisfactory. The dates when the first satisfactory colony of 
each was established will be found in the second column. When, 
as so frequently happened, the parasite was secured too late in 
the season to make its attack upon the caterpillars possible until 
another year, the circumstance is indicated in the third column. 
The fourth column indicates when the parasite was first recov- 
ered from the immediate vicinity, and the fifth when it was 
found to be generally distributed. On the supposition that the 
progress of the parasites later liberated will be comparable with 
that of the earlier, the dates when each of the species listed can 
be expected to become effective in their respective roles of egg, 
caterpillar or pupa parasites, are indicated in the last column. 



Table 4. — Showing Date of Liberation and Subsequent Progress of the 
Parasites of the Gypsy Moth in Massachusetts. 



P.\R.\S1TES. 


First 
liberated 

under 
Satisfac- 
tory Con- 
ditions. 


First Op- 
portunity 
to repro- 
duce as a 
Parasite 
or Enemy of 
the Gypsy 
Moth. 


First 
recovered 

from 

Immediate 

Vicinity 

of 
Colony. 


First 
recovered 

at a 
Distance 

from 

Colony 

Site. 


Will 
probably 
become 
Effective. 


Theronia fulve.scens.i 


- 


- 


- 


- 


- 


Monodontomerus aereus, . 


1906 


1906 


-2 


1909 


1911 


Calosoma sycophanta, 


1906 


1906 


1907 


1909 


1911 


Compsilura concinnata, 


1906 


1907 


1907 


1909 


1912 


Tachina larvarum, 


1906 


1907 


_ 3 


_ 3 


1912 


Tricholyga grandis, < . 


1906? 


1907? 


1909? 


1909? 


1912? 


Glyptapanteles fulvipes, 


1908 


1909 


1909 


- 


1914 


Anastatus bifasciatus, 


1909 


1909 


1909 


- 


_ 7 


Schedius kuvanas, 


1909 


1909 


1909 


- 


1912 


Chalcis flavipes 


1909 


1909 


1909 


- 


1915 


Blepharipa scutellata, 


1909 


1910 


- 


- 


1916 


Zygobothria gilva, 


1909 


1910 


- 


- 


1916 


Carcelia gnava, .... 


1909 


1910 


- 


- 


1916 



' A native parasite, of slight relative importance. 

- First recovered at a distance from colony. 

3 Adults indistinguishable from a native species, which is rarely parasitic on the gypsy moth. 

* It is not known positively when Tricholyga was first liberated, owing to its very close re- 
semblance, in appearance of adult, to Tachina. The recovery from the field in 1909 may have 
been the result of colonization in 1908, or equally well of that of earlier years. 



52 IMPORTED PARASITES. 

Earlier in this paper an attempt was made to point out the 
necessity of establishing a sufficient number of parasites to form 
a natural sequence, which would attack each stage of the moth, 
from egg to j)upa. Every parasite necessary to make an effective 
sequence is represented in the list given, but there are several, 
including at least one of considerable importance {Blepharipa 
scutellata), which may not become effective before 1916. Since 
the chain is no stronger than its weakest link, the sequence of 
parasites will not become fully effective until each necessary 
component of the sequence has reached the necessary abundance. 
It will be 1916 before the complete control of the gypsy moth in 
Isqw England can reasonably be expected, and, unless the writer 
is mistaken, this control, when it is effected, will be general over 
all of the infested area. 

THE WORK IN 1910. 

The year 1910 will be crucial in one respect, since it will give 
ample opportunity to prove or disprove a number of the premises 
which have been used as a basis for the above calculation. It 
ought to be possible to follow the progress of several parasites 
very exactly, and their progress must be proportionate to the dis- 
tance which they must travel if they are to become effective in 
their respective roles by the time set. Should the actual develop- 
ments of this season fall short of what is considered to be a 
necessary amount of progress, the disappointment of those in 
charge of the work will be very great. 

It is hoped that Monodontomerus will increase at about the 
same rate which has prevailed in the past, but a slight falling oft" 
is rather expected. In like manner increase in the numbers of 
and in the territory covered by Calosoma ought to be commen- 
surate with the progress of this species during the past year. 
Compsilura ought to be recovered with ease, and it should be 
possible to determine more accurately its rate of increase and of 
dispersion. Tachina ought to be recovered for the first time, and 
Tricholyga may or may not show decided increase, owing to the 
doubt which exists concerning its early history in America. It 
is hardly expected that Glyptapanteles will be foimd at all. If it 
were, the circumstance would be more encouraging than any- 
thing which has happened : first, because it would allay the 



GYPSY AND BROWN-TAIL MOTHS. 53 

douLts which have been felt as to its ability to exist here; and 
second, because it would indicate an increase beyond what could 
be reasonably expected. The egg parasites, Anastatus and 
Schedius, and the Tachinid Elepharipa, must demonstrate their 
ability to survive the New England winters. It is hardly to be 
expected that Carcelia, Zygobothria and Chalcis will be recov- 
ered. Should any or all of them be found, it would be considered 
as particularly encouraging. 

PARASITES OF THE BROWN- TAIL MOTH. 

The brown-tail moth is generally and with justice considered 
to be the less injurious of the two imj)orted pests, and largely 
on this account the major part of the space in this bulletin is 
devoted to the consideration of the gypsy moth and its parasites. 
It must not be concluded from this, however, that the parasites 
of the brown-tail moth have been treated with less consideration 
in the laboratory. They have received their full share of atten- 
tion, and work upon them, which naturally begins in the winter, 
at a time when very little can be done on the parasites of the 
gypsy moth, is largely completed by the end of June, before the 
larger and more important importations of gypsy moth material 
are received. 

The brown-tail is generally more common and more frequently 
injurious than the gypsy moth in Europe, and api^ears to be less 
completely controlled by its parasites. It is attacked by a 
greater variety, but more of the species are of distinctly minor 
importance. 

There are at least six parasites native to America which at- 
tack the brown-tail moth as freely as the native Theronia attacks 
the gypsy moth. One of these, Diglochis, is apparently the same 
as the European Diglochis omnivorus. All but one of the re- 
mainder are very similar in habit to European species, as may 
be seen by reference to Table 5. 

All of the European parasites known to be of importance 
abroad have been imported and liberated in some numbers ; but 
in a few instances we have not been able to secure a sufficiently 
large number to establish strong colonies. Several of the Euro- 
pean species, on account of their very close resemblance to 
American forms which attack the brown-tail in this country. 



54 IMPORTED PARASITES. 

cannot be considered as of much promise; and two (Tricho- 
gramma and Pteromalus) have been given every opportunity to 
prove their worth, but have not responded at all satisfactorily. 

There are, however, ten or twelve European parasites differ- 
ent from any known to attack the brown-tail in America, and 
which include several of great promise, which will be of material 
assistance in reducing the present prevailing abundance of their 
host, if they prove adaptable to American conditions. 

In Table 5 are listed all of the known parasites of the brown- 
tail moth which play any considerable part in effecting its 
control. The names of the native American species are in 
black-faced type; those of European species which have been 
imported in satisfactory numbers and colonized under favorable 
conditions are in Roman type; while those of the European 
species which have not yet been received under satisfactory 
conditions are italicized. 

Nearly all of the introduced species have been recovered from 
the field, but not all of them are known to be firmly established. 
Three of them, Monodontomerus, Tachina and Compsilura, are 
promising parasites of the gypsy moth also. 



GYPSY AND BROWN-TAIL MOTHS. 



55 







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Trichogramma pretiosa, .... 
Teleuomous phalienarum, .... 
Apanteles viniinetorum 











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Zygobolhria nidicola, .... 
Pteromalus egregius, .... 
Parexorista chelonia?, .... 
Dexodes nie;ripes, ..... 
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Eupeletoria magnicornis, 

Zenillia libatrix 

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Tachina larvarum, .... 
Anomalon exile, .... 



56 



IjMported parasites. 






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PARASITES 



Gypsy and Bro\/vn-Tail Moths 



INTRODUCED INTO 



MASSACHUSETTS 



A 



WHERE THEY COME FROM 

WHAT THEY ARE DOING 

A GENERAL SURVEY OF THE WORK 



By W. F. FISKE 

Agent and Elxpert, Bureau of Entomology, U. S. Department of Agriculture 



UNDER THE DIRECTION OF 



F. W. RANE, STATE Forester 



^ 

^m 



